#Obamacare

Jake DiMare suspects that Conservatives are probably not so happy with the choice of words used to label this historic change in the way we do health care in the United States now.

This just in from CNN:

Washington (CNN) — In a landmark ruling that will impact the November election and the lives of every American, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the controversial health care law championed by President Barack Obama.

The narrow 5-4 ruling was a victory for Obama but also will serve as a rallying issue for Republicans calling for repeal of the Affordable Care Act passed by Democrats in 2010.

Last week John Boehner said there would be no ‘spiking of the ball’ in Congress when the Supreme Court struck down Obamacare in this landmark case. Fortunately, I’m not in Congress, I don’t give a rat’s ass what the ‘Lord of Tears’ wants, and, most importantly, Obamacare lives. Obamacare lives. Thank you John Roberts, Obamacare lives. There is at least one thing Bush Jr. did right with his administration.

Although there is much to be said about the details of this historic moment, for now I just want to celebrate and send an early, conciliatory note to conservatives. Sure, you may now see this as a new tax and we all know how you feel about taxes. It could still be argued that forcing you to pay for something you don’t want is terrible…There, there, sad conservatives…I completely understand.

After all, I’ve been forced to pay my share for two wars I didn’t want. Schools and hospitals in foreign lands I don’t want. I’ve been forced to line the pockets of the shareholders of Haliburton, Bechtel Parsons, and hundreds of other contractors. All things I didn’t want. I don’t want to pay for privatized prison systems, or a war against drugs. I guess it’s a good thing managing a society isn’t all about what I want.

No, an organized society is all about what’s best for the people as a whole, as much as conservatives would like to think otherwise. In a society, we achieve great things by working together. We take care of one another so our collective effort can be focused on issues too big for individuals to tackle. Like building bridges, traveling to the moon, and healing the sick who can’t afford to take care of themselves.

Moving forward, it’s good to know how the individual insurance mandate is a tax for a singular purpose: Helping sick and suffering Americans. It won’t ever be used for more bombs. It won’t ever be used to imprison young men and women for petty crimes. This new tax only means millions of otherwise ‘unworthy citizens’ by virtue of being poor and/or weak, will never be let down by the health care system again.

And finally, I want to thank the GOP one last time, for ensuring the historic new ways we approach health care in this country will go down in history as #Obamacare. In retrospect, I’m sure Republican strategists wish they could take that one back. Serves you right for name-calling. It would have been one thing for President Barack Obama to go down in history as the nation’s first black president. Now he can also lay claim to being the President who finally succeeded where so many other presidents, Bush Jr. included, have failed: overhauling health care.

About Jake DiMare

Jake DiMare lives in Boston, Massachusetts with his fiancee Jackie. In addition to writing for the Good Men Project, Jake is a digital strategist managing large scale web projects for government, health and higher education clients. When Jake’s not at work he enjoys sailing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, movies and hanging out with friends. Jake blogs at jakedimare.com and can be found on Twitter @jakedimare

Thanks for your comments. I’m not really educated on the specific issue you brought up Greg.

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6 years ago

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Greg

Below are links to a couple of articles on the subject. Now that the ACA has been upheld, I think the question of whether the Act is going to be implemented in a fair, or in a discriminatory, manner, is timely.

I’m really disappointed with this all-or-nothing approach. I was against the war in Iraq (I remain confused as to what the alternative to the war in Afghanistan was…perhaps people don’t really remember 9/11?), but that doesn’t mean I was for the Affordable Care Act. It seems like pieces like this are just going to continue creating animosity and tearing the country apart. It’s completely untrue that someone automatically supported the invasion of Iraq simply because they were against the Affordable Care Act (indeed, I have surprisingly vivid memories of marching while holding up a placard in Chicago for someone who… Read more »

“It’s completely untrue that someone automatically supported the invasion of Iraq simply because they were against the Affordable Care Act”

-I don’t believe I made this claim in my piece Mike, but thanks for your comments.

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6 years ago

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AnonymousDog

Since you obviously think conservatives have nothing but bad motives behind the positions that they take, you shouldn’t be surprised when conservatives in turn believe that leftists have bad motives on their part.

Thanks for contributing to a healthy policy discussion and mutual understanding. Your brand of tolerance is what makes political debate in this country the way it is.

As Paul Krugman pointed out in his book “The Conscience of a Liberal,” the chief fear of many Republican strategiests regarding national healthcare was not that it would fail, but that it would succeed. That effect–substantially improving millions of Americans’ lives via government intervention–would undo all their hard work since the 1980s in claiming that government cannot, and should not, be expected to actually help people.